Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer ).
See the entire definition of Abnormal
Asymptomatic: Without symptoms. For example, an asymptomatic infection is an infection with no symptoms.
Ataxia: Wobbliness. Incoordination and unsteadiness due to the brain's failure to regulate the body's posture and regulate the strength and direction of limb movements. Ataxia is usually a consequence of disease in the brain, specifically in the cerebellum which lies beneath the back part of the cerebrum.
Atypical: Not typical, not usual, not normal, abnormal. Atypical is often used to refer to the appearance of precancerous or cancerous cells.
Autopsy : A postmortem examination. Also called a necropsy .
See the entire definition of Autopsy
Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for purposes of diagnosis. (Many definitions of "biopsy" stipulate that the sample of tissue is removed for examination under a microscope. This may or may not be the case. The diagnosis may be achieved by other means such as by analysis of chromosomes or genes.)
See the entire definition of Biopsy
Blood: The familiar red fluid in the body that contains white and red blood cells, platelets, proteins, and other elements. The blood is transported throughout the body by the circulatory system. Blood functions in two directions: arterial and venous. Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues while venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported to the lungs and kidneys, respectively, for removal from the body.
Bovine: Having to do with cows and cattle, as in bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), bovine tuberculosis, and bovine growth hormone.
Brain: That part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium ( skull ). The brain functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body. It has two (right and left) halves called "hemispheres."
See the entire definition of Brain
CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , the US agency charged with tracking and investigating public health trends. The stated mission of the CDC is "To promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability." The CDC is a part of the U.S. Public Health Services (PHS) under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
See the entire definition of CDC
Clinical: 1. Having to do with the examination and treatment of patients. 2. Applicable to patients. A laboratory test may be of clinical value (of use to patients).
See the entire definition of Clinical
Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contrast, for example, between blood vessels and other tissue.
Dementia : Significant loss of intellectual abilities such as memory capacity, severe enough to interfere with social or occupational functioning.
See the entire definition of Dementia
Disease: Illness or sickness often characterized by typical patient problems (symptoms) and physical findings (signs). Disruption sequence: The events that occur when a fetus that is developing normally is subjected to a destructive agent such as the rubella (German measles) virus.
Donor: The giver of a tissue or organ, for example, of blood or a kidney.
Electroencephalogram: A study of electrical current within the brain. Electrodes are attached to the scalp. Wires attach these electrodes to a machine which records the electrical impulses. The results are either printed out or displayed on a computer screen. Electroencephalogram is abbreviated EEG.
See the entire definition of Electroencephalogram
Endemic: Present in a community at all times but in relatively low frequency. Something that is endemic is typically restricted or peculiar to a locality or region.
See the entire definition of Endemic
Epidemic: The occurrence of more cases of a disease than would be expected in a community or region during a given time period. A sudden severe outbreak of a disease such as SARS. From the Greek "epi-", "upon" + "demos", "people or population" = "epidemos" = "upon the population." See also: Endemic; Pandemic.
FDA: The Food and Drug Administration, an agency within the U.S. Public Health Service, which is a part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
See the entire definition of FDA
Health: As officially defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease, appears in a particular population or area. In disease epidemiology, the incidence is the number of newly diagnosed cases during a specific time period. The incidence is distinct from the prevalence which refers to the number of cases alive on a certain date.
See the entire definition of Incidence
Incubation period: In medicine, the time from the moment of exposure to an infectious agent until signs and symptoms of the disease appear. For example, the incubation period of chickenpox is 14-16 days.
See the entire definition of Incubation period
Median: The middle. Like the median strip in a highway.
Myoclonus: A condition of abnormal contraction of muscles or portions of muscles.
Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for example, the onset of rheumatoid arthritis . There is always an onset to a disease but never to the return to good health. The default setting is good health.
See the entire definition of Onset
Pathology: The study of disease. Pathology has been defined as "that branch of medicine which treats of the essential nature of disease." The word "pathology" comes from the Greek words "pathos" meaning "disease" and "logos" meaning "a treatise" = a treatise of disease. The word "pathology" is sometimes misused to mean disease as, for example, "he didn't find any pathology" (meaning he found no evidence of disease). A medical doctor that specializes in pathology is called a pathologist. Pathologists are experts at interpreting microscopic views of body tissues.
Prion: A disease-causing agent that is neither bacterial nor fungal nor viral and contains no genetic material. A prion is a protein that occurs normally in a harmless form. By folding into an aberrant shape, the normal prion turns into a rogue agent. It then coopts other normal prions to become rogue prions.
See the entire definition of Prion
Prion disease: A disease due to a prion , a proteinaceous infectious particle that lacks nucleic acids . Prions are composed largely, if not entirely, of an altered formal (an abnormal isoform) of a normal cellular protein .
See the entire definition of Prion disease
Psychiatric: Pertaining to or within the purview of psychiatry , the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis , and treatment of mental illness.
See the entire definition of Psychiatric
Sensory: Relating to sensation , to the perception of a stimulus and the voyage made by incoming ( afferent ) nerve impulses from the sense organs to the nerve centers.
See the entire definition of Sensory
Spongiform: Resembling a sponge in being soft and full of cavities, as in as in transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.
Tissue: A tissue in medicine is not like a piece of tissue paper. It is a broad term that is applied to any group of cells that perform specific functions. A tissue in medicine need not form a layer. Thus, - The bone marrow is a tissue;
- Connective tissue consists of cells that make up fibers in the framework supporting other body tissues; and
- Lymphoid tissue is the part of the body's immune system that helps protect it from bacteria and other foreign entities.
Transfusion: The transfer of blood or blood products from one person (the donor) into another person (the recipient's) bloodstream. In most situations, this is done as a lifesaving maneuver to replace blood cells or blood products lost through severe bleeding. Transfusion of your own blood (autologous) is the safest method but requires planning ahead and not all patients are eligible. Directed donor blood allows the patient to receive blood from known donors. Volunteer donor blood is usually most readily available and, when properly tested has a low incidence of adverse events.
See the entire definition of Transfusion
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: Abbreviated vCJD. A human disease thought due to the same infectious agent as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Both the human and bovine disorders are invariably fatal brain diseases with unusually long incubation periods measured in years, and are caused by an unconventional transmissible agent, a prion , resulting in the deposition of amyloid tissue that causes a breakdown of brain tissue leaving the infected brain with a "spongy" ("spongiform") appearance. The disease in humans is sometimes called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD).
See the entire definition of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
vCJD: Stands for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease , a human disease thought due to the same infectious agent as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Both the human and bovine disorders are invariably fatal brain diseases with unusually long incubation periods measured in years, and are caused by an unconventional transmissible agent, a prion , resulting in the deposition of amyloid tissue that causes a breakdown of brain tissue leaving the infected brain with a "spongy" ("spongiform") appearance. The disease in humans is sometimes called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD).
See the entire definition of vCJD
 |
 |
From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com  |
|
|
Infectious Disease RSS
